Donald Trump named retired four-star Marine Gen. John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security. If confirmed by the Senate, Kelly would join retired Marine Gen. James Mattis as defense secretary and retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

Updated

10/05/2015 - 9:45am

Not long after the shooting in Charleston, a US House of Representatives committee rejected a measure that would have allowed the CDC to conduct research into gun violence, leaving intact a ban pushed by the NRA back in the 1990s. That leads to odd gun violence reports that are not about guns.

What does it mean to be white? And what does it mean to be Hispanic? Being a Spaniard from Barcelona, Jaime Gonzalez always considered himself to be European and white. But as a BBC reporter working in California — he has found that many Americans see him differently.

Research commissioned by the CDC in 1993 showed that gun owners faced higher risks for both homicides and suicides. But the NRA quickly moved to silence the studies — and make sure no other similar studies would get federal funding. They succeeded.

The Dalai Lama prohibits his followers from praying to what he considers the malevolent deity of Dorje Shugden. But adherents of this practice, many of them western converts, say the Tibetan religious leader is guilty of persecution.

Updated

03/30/2015 - 4:15pm

Purvi Patel is the second pregnant woman in Indiana to be charged under the state's law against "feticide," a law originally passed to protect pregnant women from harm. Patel was sentenced Monday to face up to 20 years in prison, in a case has alarmed advocates for women and immigrants.

Updated

07/18/2015 - 10:15pm

Ani Zonneveld started as a Grammy award-winning songwriter. Now she spends her time challenging conservative interpretation of her Muslim faith and has become an imam that embraces gender equality, gay rights and interfaith marriage.

The Korean American community is standing by a new statue honoring thousands of "comfort women," or sex slaves, used by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Japanese conservatives say the statue has to go. And both sides are taking the issue to the White House.